Stocks bounce after Lowe's posts a profit surprise

A surprisingly strong profit report from home improvement chain Lowe's is giving investors a reason to put money back into stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up more than 150 points, wiping out half of the losses it suffered last week.

Investors are again looking to the housing market for clues about how the economy is doing. Lowe's posted a 22 percent drop in its first-quarter earnings, but the results easily beat Wall Street's forecasts and the company raised its full-year profit forecast.

At midday, the Dow is up 157 to 8,425. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 16 to 899, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 24 to 1,704.

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